Lay it on the Line
by EllieBear75
Summary: Sequel to: "Father Figure" Dick tries to make amends to Veronica.
Veronica pulled into the empty parking lot of "The Body Shop" strip club at 10 am. There was something weird about showing up at the place on a Friday morning. Mars Investigations' new receptionist, Julie, had made the arrangements for Veronica to meet with one of the owners of the club that morning, at his request. Mr. Richards had requested she come by the place, to meet about a possible investigation at 10:30, but since Logan was off that day, she ended up sleeping in with him and leaving straight from home. She was early. Too early. She sipped her coffee and pulled out her phone to play a round of Angry Birds while she waited.

Out of her perefrial vision, she saw a vehicle pull up beside her. She gasped when she looked up and saw who it was. Swiftly, she threw open the door and jumped out of her car.

"What are you doing here?" She and Logan exclaimed at each other. Logan turned off the engine to his convertible and swung himself out of the car.

"I'm here on a case." Veronica said suspiciously. "What are YOU doing here?"

Logan ran his hand through his hair. "I have a meeting too. A meeting I'm late for." He said, making sure not to maintain eye contact.

Veronica's eyes narrowed. "Who are you meeting?" She asked.

Logan looked at the ground and muttered. "Dick."

"Dick?"

"Yes, Dick. I said I would meet him at 10 am to talk." Logan admitted. "What are you doing here?"

Veronica let out a sigh. "Well, I'm here to meet with one of the owners, Mr. Richards, at 10:30 am about a case."

Logan cracked a twisted grin. "So I am here to see DICK and you are here to see Mr. RICHARDS?" He asked slowly.

Veronica quickly put two and two together. "Fuck." She said.

Logan chuckled. "Don't be too hard on yourself. It was kind of clever."

Veronica scowled. "What does he want?"

Logan shrugged. "I don't know. All he said was that he really wanted to talk to me. I agreed more out of curiosity than anything."

Veronica looked up at the club sign and then back at Logan. She reached out her hand to him and he took it. "Come on. Let's go see what he has to say."

They walked through the main doors of the club and found a bouncer sitting on a chair, waiting for them. "Are you Mr. Echolls and Ms. Mars?" He asked. They both nodded. "Follow me." He gestured and they followed the burley man through the club to a room at the back.

He opened the door for them. "Wait here. I'll go get the boss." He said and left them alone.

Veronica surveyed the room. It was red with a mirrored ceiling and a gold pole situated smack dab in the middle. There were two large leather couches situated across from each other and a large, sturdy coffee table between. "VIP Room." Logan stated, as if reading her thoughts.

"Of course Dick would want to meet with us in the VIP Room of a strip club. Where else would one go to talk?" Veronica shook her head and turned to take in the entire room.

"I thought it would be private. And if one of you tried to kill me, it would make hiding my body way harder." Dick said from the doorway.

Veronica instinctually moved closer to Logan. Sensing her discomfort, he put his arm around her waist. "OK. You got us here. What do you want?" She spat.

Dick took a step closer to them and then thought the better of it. Instead he gestured towards the couches. "Why don't we have a seat." He said.

Veronica glared at Dick and was about to speak when she felt Logan guiding her hips towards the couches. She bit her lip and sat down as close to Logan as humanly possible.

Dick came and sat down across from them. There was silence for a moment or two as they all assessed the situation. Then Dick spoke. "Thanks for coming, guys. Guess you figured out that I'm Mr. Richards pretty quickly." He glanced at Veronica who was scowling at him.

Logan nodded. "What did you want to talk about, Dick? I thought we had said everything that morning on the beach."

Dick snorted and rubbed his cheek. "Yeah, well, I'm here to say what I should have said then."

Veronica sat forward, puffing herself up to defend them. "What do you think you should have said, Dick?" She said, her voice icy and dripping with venom.

Dick took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I know that it may be too little too late, but you need to know that I am genuinely and truly sorry for what happened the night of Shelley's party. That's what I should have said to Logan. That is what I am saying to you now. I'm sorry Veronica. I was an idiot. I was so focused on tormenting Cassidy that I didn't think that he would actually..." He exhaled and pushed out the words. "...rape you. But I should never have put you in that situation in the first place. I'm mortified with myself that I actually thought that...doing things...to an unconscious girl could ever be considered okay. But I did. And it took me a long time to realize how completely fucked up my thinking was. I know that just saying 'sorry' may seem small penance for what happened and what you went through after, but I don't know what else I can say."

Veronica's mouth dropped open. This was the last thing she expected to hear from Dick. She glanced at Logan who was now sitting stone still, his jaw clenched and his eyes like steel.

Dick continued. "I want you both to know that I'm trying to really make amends. Which is why I wanted you both here. That's also why I did this."

Dick reached into the breast pocket of his shirt and unfolded a piece of paper. He placed it upright on the table and slid it across to them as he spoke. "I made a donation of $500,000 to the Neptune Clinic. The director there said that they would use it as an endowment so they could keep their programs, like their 'Rape Crisis' project, running for a long time. This is their thank you letter, in case you didn't believe me."

Logan looked at Veronica. She still sat, unmoving. Her eyes never leaving Dick's face. Logan knew, she was trying to read him. "Veronica..." Logan started, but Veronica just shook her head, unable to speak.

"You don't have to say anything." Dick continued, starring to babble to fill the silence. "I should tell you, I'm not doing this alone. A few weeks ago, I started seeing a different therapist. A real therapist, not just one who would give me a prescription for pot." Dick confided and hung his head. "I told her about what happened and she's been helping me do this. 'Cause I really didn't know what to do."

Veronica still said nothing but Logan had to ask. "Have you talked to her about your family?"

Dick sighed and wrung his hands together. "Yeah. My dad. Cassidy. My mom leaving us. The parade of Playboy step-stepmoms... Let's just say I'm going to be seeing her for a while."

Logan smiled a tight smile. "I'm glad you're finally confronting your demons, Dude. I know it's hard work, but it's worth it."

Dick looked up at Logan. He smiled back and nodded wordlessly.

Suddenly, Veronica spoke. "Why now?" Her voice had daggers. "Why now? What happened? Because Logan knows what you did? Is that what changed?"

Dick looked from Logan to Veronica to Logan again. He sighed heavily and reached into his back pocket. He pulled out his phone. Quietly, he scrolled through a few things, then held the phone to his chest.

"Why am I doing this? I'm doing this because it's not about me anymore. I have someone else to think about. I have a daughter I have to think about now." He turned the phone to face Logan and Veronica. On the screen was a picture. A picture of him and Celia, sitting on Mac's couch, smiling for the camera.

Veronica let out a strangled cry. "You." She choked out.

Dick nodded. "Yep. Me."

Veronica stared at the photo as if it was going to jump out if the phone at any minute. She brought her hands up and covered her mouth, unable to speak again. Logan gently reached out and put his hand on her shoulder for support, but she didn't register his touch.

Dick continued. "See, I gotta show Mac that I can actually BE a father before she will trust me with Celia. Truth is, I wasn't all that great when she told me she was pregnant. So now I really have to work hard to make sure I can be the kind of person who can be a good parent to her, ya know?"

Logan cleared his throat. "You're a really lucky guy. She's an awesome little girl."

Dick nodded. "I know. I don't deserve her. Or the chances Mac has given me. But I need to get his right." He looked Veronica directly in the eye. "I really, really can't screw this up. This is my one chance for a real family. My family was pretty shitty and I want to make sure that doesn't happen with Celia."

Tears glistened in Veronica's eyes. It all made sense. This was why Mac was so evasive about Celia's father. Why she couldn't tell her best friend. Why Mac was so sad this past month. Why Celia had a beautiful head of blond hair when she was born. Why she seemed so...familiar.

"What did Mac say?" Veronica said quietly.

Dick sighed. "She told me that I could see Celia again if I could prove that I could own up to my mistakes. That's when I went to the therapist for help. Because I honestly didn't know what to do. See, in my family, we were pretty good at hurting each other, but not really big on the 'I'm sorry' part. And I need to see my daughter. It's been three-weeks since Mac let me see her and I feel like my heart is going to explode." With that, tears started to roll down Dick's cheeks.

"Please. I don't know what else I can do to show you how sorry I am, and how much I want to try and be a better person. This may be my only shot." Dick choked out.

Veronica wiped her eyes. She was inside her head, rolling everything around like a heavy marble in her skull. This was not the Dick she knew. This was another person entirely. This was a man who was in anguish. His past had finally caught up with him and he was ready to try and face it. His defensiveness, his anger, was over.

She realized could easily say she didn't accept his apology, and what would Mac do? Never let him see his daughter again? But would that be good for Celia? Didn't she deserve a father who loved her? Didn't everyone?

"You are a very lucky man." Veronica whispered. She reached out and took Logan's hand for support. "The apology, the donation, all of it, means a lot to me. I really hope this is the beginning of a change in your life, not for you, but for that beautiful little girl that you say you love so much."

She took a deep breath. "But just so we are clear, if you hurt Mac or Celia, I will hunt you down and hurt you. Badly."

Dick let out a snort. "If I screw this up, I will gladly surrender myself to you so you can feed me to the sharks."

Logan squeezed Veronica's hand and looked between Dick and his girlfriend. "Well, just as long as we are in agreement..." He smirked.

Veronica caught her boyfriend eye and smiled a little smile. "So you would help me?"

Logan scoffed. "Dick has me down as his 'next of kin' on all his investments. All his money is mine, should anything happen to him. I see this as a winning proposal."

"Dude, I hate to break it to you, but I changed it to Celia and Mac a few months ago. You get nada!" Said Dick with a laugh.

"Well, shit." Logan said. "There goes my diabolical plan."

Veronica shook her head and stood up. Logan and Dick stood, quickly following her action. "If we're done, we should go." She said, looking uncomfortably between the two men.

Dick nodded. "Thanks for hearing me out, Veronica. I know it may have been a long time in coming, but I want you to know that I am really sorry for my part in what happened to you."

Veronica nodded. She looked at Logan. "Let's go." She said quietly.

Logan nodded a goodbye at Dick and walked with Veronica, hand in hand, out the door of the room, across the club, and out into the sunshine.

In the parking lot, Veronica let out a big exhale and leaned back against her car. Logan came and towered over her, enveloping her in a big hug. "How are you feeling?" He asked.

She shrugged into his chest. "It's just a lot to process in a very short time frame. I'm glad he apologized, but it's not like the pain just magically disappears." She said into his shirt.

"I wouldn't think it would." He said and then went quiet.

The two stayed like this for a few minutes before Logan heard a muffled groan from Veronica.

"Am I suffocating you?" He asked and backed away slightly.

Veronica looked up. Her nose was wrinkled and she had a disgusted look. "Up until today, I only knew one thing about Celia's father."

Logan was curious. "What was it?"

"A few weeks after they hooked up, before Mac knew she was pregnant, we went out for drinks. Well, one scotch led to another, and she told me that she met some guy and they had the most mind-blowing sex she had ever had." Veronica made a gagging sound.

Logan wrinkled his nose. "Ewwww."

She looked up at Logan and laughed. "I KNOW, right?!"

Logan chuckled and ran his hand, lovingly over his girlfriend's hair. "Are you okay?"

Veronica nodded. "Yeah. Surprisingly, I am. It felt both good and terrible to hear Dick apologize."

"I was glad to hear that he was getting real help." Logan stated. "Maybe there is hope for him yet."

Veronica nodded. "I hope so. For Celia's sake." She reached up and planted a small kiss on Logan's soft lips. "This has all made me tired and hungry. Want to buy me lunch and we can talk more before I head back to the office?"

Logan kissed the top of her head. "I would love too."

Mac looked up from her computer. Celia was breastfeeding, cradled by one arm, while Mac zipped through pages of data, looking for the information Keith Mars requested. Suddenly, an I.M. window popped up on screen.

 **Dick: Veronica knows. And I'm still alive.**

"Oh shit!" Mac yelled at the screen, and spun her chair in search of her phone, located somewhere on the desk.

After a bit of paper tossing, she found it and scrolled through her contacts until she came upon Dick's number. Soon, the call was connected.

"Don't kill me." Answered the person on the other end.

"And why not?" Hissed Mac.

"Uhhhhhh...because it kind of all just happened when I was talking to Veronica and Logan." He answered.

"And why were you talking to Veronica and Logan?" She said.

There was a pause. "Because I was apologizing to Veronica. For what happened. And trying to make amends. And I told them why I'm doing it. And why I have to try and be a better person."

"And why would that be?" Mac asked, hesitantly.

Dick sighed. "For Celia. And for you. I need you, both of you, in my life."

Mac paused. Her heart pounded wildly in her chest. She missed him so much these past few weeks.

"Mac?" Dick questioned.

"I'm here." She started quietly. "Do you want to come over tonight and talk about it?"

She could hear Dick grinning on the other side of the phone. "Yeah. That would be great. I'll bring dinner from the veggie place downtown that you like so much."

Mac smiled in spite of herself. "Dinner would be awesome, Dick. Come at 6:00?"

"Yeah! Yes! I'll see you then! Tell my little princess that Daddy is coming over!" Enthusiasm springing into his voice.

Mac laughed. "I will. She won't understand. But I will tell her."

"Okay. Great. I'll see you later. Bye." He said, awkward with excitement.

"See you later." She said and put down the phone.

She looked down at Celia, who was now looking up at her mom and grinning. "Guess daddy comes home tonight, little girl." And Mac smiled a big, warm smile.


End file.
